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‘Stigma is all around us, but I think one
thing we have to be careful about is
seeing it when it isn’t there – we have to
accept the good bits.’
Beryl Poole, The Alliance
‘There are many healthcare professionals
who are very dedicated to working with
people with drug and alcohol problems,
but there are many more with the same
prejudices you find in the rest of society.’
Paul Hayes, NTA
‘Why get caught up worrying what
other people think about us? It’s about
facing up to our own fears and being a
part of our communities.’
Delegate
‘We’re seeing the rise of recovery capitalists
and profiteers, and they are being backed
by government agencies. The recovery
movement is a social justice movement.
We might be on the ropes as the coalition
government hacks away at communities,
but we are not going to go away.’
AnnemarieWard, UK Recovery Federation
‘There are a lot of changes going on
with this government. They seem to
want to do everything at once but aren’t
quite sure how it will all work. The good
news is that there’s two years of pilots
before we see this on the ground, so
we’ll be able to see how it works and
challenge it where it seems problematic.’
Niamh Eastwood, Release, on payment
by results
‘Stigma can make us unite, and we can
fight this. Let’s unite and fight.’
Delegate
‘We’re aware of the pitfalls of aligning
with organisations that do not have a
strong set of values around social justice.
If that means we stay where we are –
skint – then we stay where we are.’
Alistair Sinclair, UK Recovery Federation
‘We haven’t spent a single penny –
because we didn’t have any money to
spend. It’s all about cutting deals.’
Tim Sampey, London User Forum
‘With payment by results it seems like
we’re just numbers on a piece of paper.
What’s to stop services from just keeping
us on their books and stopping us from
moving on?’
Delegate
‘This is not just a loony left-wing liberal
organisation like Release calling for this.
It’s time for governments to be brave
and stop criminalising what is effectively
a health issue and an education issue.’
Niamh Eastwood, Release, on
decriminalisation
‘I’ve got a cousin who’s been on
methadone for 25 years, and he’s up to
100ml and using on top. I know you can’t
enforce it, but he’s stuck in a place where
he doesn’t want to be, and he needs help.’
Delegate
Conference quotes
A selection of soundbites from
Seize the Day!
health and homelessness organisations and many
others. ‘That’s our version of a Big Society. Our belief is
that we can change things by coming together and
making a difference.’
The Alliance was also all about making links, its
acting chief executive Ken Stringer told the conference.
‘It’s a movement that’s getting bigger and stronger. The
current government say they want people to be more
involved in their services, and it’s our job to hold them
to that. Your voices feed into new policy directions, and
new policy is only valid if they’ve been listening to you –
we need you to keep talking to us.’
The field had made huge gains over the last
decade, he said, with significant expansion of service
user involvement, and the time was right to build on
that. ‘Now we see service users not having to hide,
not having to be ashamed. Now they’re represented in
Parliament, and that door’s open, we need to push
harder and harder.’
It was essential to organise in the face of cuts and
financial constraints and remember the common cause,
he urged delegates. ‘There’s a great commonality here
– that people who have experienced substance misuse
problems could have a better quality of life. That’s more
important than arguing and point scoring.’
DDN
7 March 2011 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 7
Seize the day |
Activism
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
‘That’s our version
of a Big Society. Our
belief is that we can
change things by
coming together and
making a difference.’
SELVES